


Fight Your Instincts

by RedlaSunShowers029



Series: The Werecat Chronicles [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: But nothing detailed, Macro/Micro, Mild Blood, Mild Self Harm, Other, Pred!Armin, Prey!Eren, Shrinking, Vore, Werecat!Armin, Werecats, feline instinct, non-detailed transformation, safe vore, there's some mention of injections, unwilling vore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-08
Updated: 2014-08-08
Packaged: 2019-08-21 04:48:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16569944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedlaSunShowers029/pseuds/RedlaSunShowers029
Summary: Experimentation with Hanji tends to be lonely, although it isn't bad when your best friend tags alone and shares in the procedure. At the very least, this was what Eren assumed when the assignment had first been given. Shrinking doesn't sound horrible if he's prepared for it, and he couldn't imagine feeling safer with anyone but Armin. At least, that was before he discovered the effects of the alternate injection...





	Fight Your Instincts

**Author's Note:**

> Another old one but I'm honestly really proud of these? The Werecat trope is something I intensely crave even to this day (November 2018), and this is the roots of it.

Thirty seconds was all it took for a great feeling of trust and safety to shatter into a million pieces as Eren was completely cornered by his gigantic friend... No, it was he who had shrunk- the result of his portion of the experiments, which just so happened to be compatible and possibly lethal considering that of his best friend. Why did the one have to fail so ironically and dangerously while he was being protected by the very person who could so easily unitentionall end his life?! 

He didn't have much time to think it out before being practically smashed against the wall with a swipe from a paw-like hand. Now he was really stuck, completely trapped by his supposed "protector." At this size, he was completely helpless to try to run- with the looming shadow over him, he could only try to muster the courage to call out in hopes he could get through what needed to be said. 

"Armin! Snap out of it!" he cried out, completely terrified as he made eye contact with him; for in the look of the blonde's clear blue eyes, where a calm, intelligent aura filled with understanding and unswerving loyalty had once been; over that, was a sort of predatory curiosity, as if he was sub-consciously wondering what he would taste like. Though, upon his words, the dangerous spark disappeared, stopping his hand from batting at the tiny shifter with his other, then digging his claws into his own flesh until he bled, trying to deter the new instincts he had been cursed with from the test to take over, growling softly at himself for letting them, even so briefly, endanger Eren. 

Though he knew that it wasn't a conscious or willing choice, the brunette wasn't at all comforted being stalked down in such a way. The worst thing he could ever imagine was actually playing before his eyes, neither of them really able to stop it... And all he could do was beg for his life to stop one of the only people he trusted from the bottom of his heart. When he saw that Armin's instincts were overpowering his self concious, he gave a sharp cry he was sure may well be his last: "Armin, please don't eat me!" 

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Before things had completely gone downhill, the day had started out pretty normally- both of them had headed down to let Hanji run a few tests, normally sized with no animal instincts whatsoever. Though Eren had been pretty reluctant to let Armin take part in any of the the actual testing, though there were a few that were better suited to normal humans and he was the only voulenteer for such a thing. They both knew that the main reason for this was so that Hanji woundn't go too overboard in the experiments, as well as for them to be able to keep each other company in the meantime. 

"Hmm... This one looks interesting." Hanji mused, pushing her glasses up as she looked over some of the symptoms for the injection based off of the Titans' reactions to it. "This one seems to give most of the titans I've tested this on a few titans and all of them had changed size- some grew a bit, and some shrunk. It's a very peculiar test that was run, with no real correlation. Eren, if you don't mind..." He was a bit wary of how easily Hanji's tests could get "interesting," as she phrased it, often resulting in some sort of struggle in it sooner or later. "It would be a possibility that, if this works, that we could use this as a possible method for shrinking titans if they get too close to our troops." she explained.  "Though, whatever does happen, you'll need some supervision, and I think you'd probably prefer Armin over me. Would that be correct?" 

Eren nodded, not really so keen on the idea of being tiny, but knew that he would be safe with his friend if anything happened. "You're right- it would probably be easier that way, thanks." He mumbled in reply, reluctantly holding out his arm for Hanji to inject it. The moment it came in contact with his skin, he practically fell asleep, not even knowing what test Armin had been given. 

....................

"Mmh?" When he woke up, Eren was only a few inches tall, sitting on what he soon recognized as a table, in the rooms designated for resting, taking a moment to get aquatinted to everything at this new height. He jumped slightly upon hearing soft, sleepy moaning flooding his ears, reminding him that Armin should probably be somewhere near. It wasn't long before he saw him, his head resting on a desk, folded ears pointing outwards and fluffy tail- wait a second; what were the ears and tail about? They must've been the affects of whatever injection he had been subjected to. 

Walking over to him, he could see his eyes were shut somewhat tightly, grunting somewhat behind clenched teeth- plus some sharper canines. Unsure of how to get his attention, Eren climbed up onto his head and tugged at one of his ears, climbing onto it and dragging it down to try and wake him. Slowly, he began to wake up, with a sleepy moan that sounded half like a mew. "Mmwrr?" he asked, blinking a little before sitting up, then stretching in a somewhat catlike way. As his vision came into focus, he saw the tiny shifter right beside him, petting him slightly. "Oh, you're awake. Sorry, I fell asleep waiting for you to wake up yourself. I had no idea that this could be so... Exhausting." 

"Some of them can get a bit out of hand, if she has enough of them. This isn't the first time they've made me a bit drowsy." Eren replied with a yawn, somewhat startled when he felt Armin's finger on his back, gently stroking him, though soon calmed down. "What did she test on you, by the way? I-I doubt it's supposed to do that, whatever it is." Armin sat up a little at this comment in surprise, then, upon remembering some of the ways that they could fail, somewhat worriedly asked "Do I even want to know?" 

"It's not _that_ bad- just a little bit of a flaw. Trust me, it's not that bad- just a little bit of a minor flaw, unless, of course, Hanji meant to partially turn you into a cat." His eyes widened a little, hesitating before looking down to see that there were little patches of yellow-ish fur on his hands, each finger capped off with a retractable claw. His fairly calm expression turned to complete horror at this realization. "Oh no. This can't be good." he said behind his teeth, seemingly terrified with these effects. "It's just altering your appearance, right?" Eren asked, somewhat worried himself by how scared Armin had sounded. "Actually," Armin replied, lifting one arm and licking it, "I'm pretty sure that's not all it's done... But hopefully you're right. Otherwise, you'll have to turn to someone else to keep an eye on you." He finished this thought, rubbing his forearm on one of his folded ears. 

Uneasy already by his friend's catlike behavior already, even if it wasn't directed at him, knew there would be trouble if they started working fully... A cat was a predatory creature, after all, and he was not even the size of a mouse... There were so many things that could go wrong there. Of course, he was sure that even controlled with instincts, Armin would never harm him. Or at least that was his hope. Though before he could think through much, he was stopped short with a very wet, sloppy lick on his back, lifting him up a bit before sliding back down to his spot. 

Wide-eyed and horrified, he wheeled around, shuddering, to see his friend looming over him with his tongue still sticking out, then looking rather equally fearful of what he had done. "Armin, what the hell was that?!" he yowled, frantically wiping off the slime that had gotten onto him. "Gross! W-were you tasting me?!" he asked, completely terrified by the thought as he sat down to look up at him. The catboy, on the other hand, had buried his face in his palms, completely embarrassed and confused by these new instincts and behavior patterns. "It was meant to be friendly, I swear! N-nothing like that!" he said quickly in his defense, slightly frantic-sounding. "Don't think... some petty instincts are going to get in the way of keeping you safe." 

Still unsure of exactly how safe he was, Eren decided to push that fear aside, knowing that it was still unlikely for Armin to snack on him, cat or not. This wasn't fully reassuring, what with the lick and a all, though he was sure at least he would have a warning and it wouldn't be his choice at all. Such thoughts were more than he could take. "Alright, I won't make any assumptions otherwise." he responded after a little bit. "Just... If you get any odd cravings, please tell me a bit beforehand so I can get away if I need to." 

"Why wouldn't I? I promise I'll try and keep it under control." Armin mewed softly, nudging him with the side of his head and purring. "You should probably keep some distance from me, and not run about too much to make sure, though. I don't want to risk anything."  "Understood." Eren murmured in reply, somewhat startled at first with the nudge but then soon relaxing. At the very least, he had Armin's judgement on his side.  

Stretching a little, he starting to walk a little ways away from Armin. However, Eren quickly found himself in the palm of the catboy's hand, drawing him closer. Upon this sudden and unexpected action, Eren kicked and struggled in his grasp, feeling deeply assaulted. "Let me go!" he snarled, digging his fingernails into the blonde's flesh, trying to make him snap out of whatever state of mind he was in. "I just want to get a closer look at you, sorry. That was a little sudden on my part." he murmured in reply to his panicked, shrunken friend. 

Eren calmed down a bit, though was still a bit unsettled by their rather impressive size difference. But as long as he wasn't going to be harmed, there was no reason to get worked up. "I-it's fine- I was just a little startled." he replied, rubbing the back of his neck, sitting up so that he could be seen better. It was interesting and also a bit creepy watching Armin gaze down on him, the boy's eyes dilating and returning to normal in different intervals of time, though otherwise didn't dwell on it, even when he saw that the one hand he was in was being held to the table with Armin's other. By this time, Eren was certain he would be safe, curling up in the palm and resting for a little longer, only waking up to hear glass shattering.

Looking down over his hand, then glancing up at the catboy, he was met with a fairly calm, almost bored expression that he didn't know them was an attempt at a serious, concerned face. "It's not fair for you to be weaponless if I turn on you, so if the instincts take over, grab one of those shards and don't be afraid to hurt me with them." he explained, seeming rather worried again. So he had knocked over a cup to shatter into pieces- it was one on the table near them- because he was afraid to leave Eren defenseless... That wasn't a completely reassuring thought, though he was glad it had been pointed out- during the testing, the brunette didn't even have the harnesses on, much less his gear. If it came down to a life-or-death fight, which they both resented and were horrified by, it would be good for him to at least have minimal weaponry to arm himself with. 

He felt a small bit of tension with gravity as he slid out of the gigantic hand and onto the table, somewhat relieved despite his reassured safety that he had some space to escape if need be. From behind him, after he had made it a few inches away, before he heard something that made his heart stop; "Did Hanji feed you before testing? I didn't really manage to get breakfast with how early she brought us in." Eren froze to the spot; great, so now not only was Armin a catboy with feline instincts, but now he was a _hungry_ catboy with feline instincts. "N-not really, w-why are you asking?" Though Eren knew why. 

"I'll be fine- it was just a spare thought... No no no! Don't think that in going to...!" he gasped, getting onto the same line of thought as Eren. "T-there's no way that I'm going to-" "I know." Eren replied rather quickly, cutting him off. "You'd never think of something like that. Things have just been stressful lately, and I'm just getting worked up. Right, Ar?" The blonde's eyes dilated again looking down at him from a slight distance, nodding before giving a nervous smile. "Even still, y-you should probably start heading in the direction of either Mikasa or Hanji." he replied, shaking a bit, which at first Eren thought was shuddering, but soon discovered otherwise as he saw what was going on in horror- the soldier was holding his forearm, his one hand digging into the other, which had each claw out and ready. 

"A-Armin?" he stuttered, barely believing it himself. "Keep a slow, steady pace, don't look back, and when you're out of my sight, RUN!" he called out urgently, his voice rising in terror. "I'm not safe to be around, get away as fast as possible, but don't make any sudden movements! Go! Now!" he meowed, his tail poofed up in panic. 

Without a moment's hesitation, the shifter quickly turned and ran. Though straining to resist, the sound of the shrunken soldier's gait echoed in the catboy's folded ears, causing him to shake more under the pressure of the instincts begging for their release, making him start to think things he wouldn't otherwise. _You're not a human anymore- in this form, you're a cat. You're already hungry, so why not... No! He's my friend! Cat or not, I won't eat my friend! I just won't!..._ Though before he could restrain them, he quickly found his one paw-like hand batting at him, getting up to capture the tiny shifter. 

"Armin! Snap out of it!" 

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Now Eren was really in trouble- cornered to the wall, tiny, and just about defenseless. But before then, he heard a sharp half high-pitched mew, half scream, and there was a shard of glass just his size that he could attempt to use. Of course, this he was hesitant to use- stray thoughts of actually fighting his own friend had never really come to him, nor did he want to even consider stabbing him, though those thoughts changed somewhat at the sight of Armin's gaping, half-cat maw; lined with razor-sharp teeth, dark, and completely slicked down with thick strands of saliva. Such a sight was enough to give Eren all the reason why he had to defend himself, even against his own best friend... He shuddered, raising his glass shard and slashing the air with it in an attempt to make him back down. 

"A-A-Armin! I-It's me, Eren- your friend! D-don't make me hurt you!" he stuttered, the words barely explains his lips in a quiet whisper. The blonde tilted his head to one side, as if questioning something, as his eyes turned from gigantic cat-like orbs to wide-open balls of horror. "H-how?! You need to get away from me! Now! I-I actually... impossible..." His floppy ears fell down to the sides of his head, tears in his eyes, turning away and running to one side of the room on all fours, whimpering slightly. 

First getting ahold of his fear, which was subsiding rapidly now that Armin was in control, he began to feel a small pang of guilt. It had been him, after all, who had first told him about the testing over long periods of time, and answering the strategist's questions about his loneliness during them. He hadn't thought anything of them when he was asking, though he felt responsible for this quite a bit. But even through this, he heard the whimpers and self-resentful mrowls grow somewhat louder, as he looked over and saw him staring intently at his paw, each claw still out, then quickly raking them across his face. It didn't take him long to figure out what was going on; Armin was punishing himself for letting things get out of hand. 

"Armin! Stop it, this isn't your fault!" Eren cried out, racing over to prevent him from doing any more damage to himself, briefly forgetting his wariness. He looked up for a second hearing the shifter's voice, the right side of his face slashed with three claw marks, dripping with blood, then turning away from him. 

"Stay away fr-"  
"Armin, listen to me-"  
"No, I don't want for you to-"  
"No, you listen-"  
"EREN, J-JUST LISTEN FOR A SECOND!" 

He froze hearing Armin raise his voice so suddenly, a mixture of both fear and anger. In any case, it was enough to make him quiet down, especially with the fearful-angry expression and bloody scratches accompanying it. Such a look meant the options were either hear him out or something was going to happen, making him slowly back away. Noticing that he had scared his friend, Armin became a bit calmer, look down at him with more gentle sapphire eyes. "I-I'm sorry, I just don't want to hurt you." he mumbled, mingled with small chirrs of regret. "Hurting yourself isn't the way to deal with that. What we need is to find Hanji so that she can get you cured before anything happens. Don't beat yourself up over this- I know you don't intend to hurt me. You're just having a bit of difficulty due to the injection she gave you." he said, walking back over to him and putting a hand on the lower part of his knee, throwing the shard of glass aside. 

"You still trust me, even after that?" he sniffled, wiping away a few tears and the blood from his cheeks. "Like I said, it wasn't exactly _you_ who was after me, it was the effects from the injection. The chemicals in that are what caused it, not you." he assured him, scratching him gently. "Just hang in there and try and control it, and I'll be fine. You're probably right, though- it's best if I go on ahead and find Hanji before anything happens- I don't want for anything to happen when I'm this small. Do you think you can stop it long enough for me to get away fro-" He was caught midsentence by the dangling claws of his dear friend, smacking him about and knocking him to the ground. 

"A-ah... Ah..." Poor Eren was so frozen up that he couldn't say a word, only open his mouth with nothing coming out. Yet again, he was getting swatted at like a simple mouse by the out-of-control cat. "S-s-s-stop!" he shrieked, dumbfounded and numb feeling with this unintentional treachery. But at the moment, Armin was long gone, a full-on hunter who wasn't going to let him go. 

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And then came something far worse than he ever thought would happen- he leaned down and batted Eren towards his mouth. "NOO! ARMIN! ARMIN!" he screamed, thrashing as he felt the catboy's squishy tongue rub against the sides of his legs, covering his lower half in thick, slimy saliva. "STOP! STOP!" He began to tear up at the horrifying, sick truth- he was being eaten. Yes, even despite the fact that he was with his friend, he was anything but safe- to think that he would be the worst threat to him of all! 

Right now, all he could do was put up a fight and hope to get through the vicious feline that had coated Armin's judgement with only the thoughts of hunger and hunting. "ARMIN SPIT ME OUT!" he hollered, yowling more as the sharp teeth came awfully close to him. "LET GO OF ME! THIS ISN'T LIKE YOU! GIVE ME MY FRIEND BACK, YOU FUCKING CAT!" he sobbed, straining under the pressure of the fangs, threatening to chew him apart. He closed his eyes, still fighting, but knew he was unlikely able to stall his death for much longer. 

Though, just as he was about to give up, he looked out, saying goodbye to the last bit of the world he would likely see, he could feel a rather quick, sharp inhale from the catboy, and felt his teeth open up a bit. Hesitant before looking over, he could see that Armin had rammed a finger between him and the fangs, meaning that he had come back to his senses. "P-please... Spit me out..." he choked. 

At this point, Armin had to use all of his judgement to make what would probably be the hardest decision of his life; at this point, Eren pretty much looked dead. It was hard enough to stop his canines from attacking him, let alone stop them enough to open his mouth and spit him out. Even if he did manage to get it open enough, what would happen if he let go at the wrong time? These were all things he'd rather not think of, though there was only so much he could do. Right then, what he could do was bet on something insane and hope that it had been the right choice. He looked down at Eren, who was hanging halfway out of his mouth, straining to look up at him, almost seeming hopeful, and it broke his heart into a thousand pieces. This was not like he was harming someone he barely knew- this was Eren, who had stood up for and protected him for so many years. He couldn't stand it much longer, as, closing his eyes and shuddering massively, he pushed him fully into his mouth with his tongue, which was met with even more howling and screaming. 

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Eren couldn't believe it- he was completely trapped in the wet, dark, interior of Armin's mouth. The worst part of it was that he could see right before getting stuck was that he could see in those moments that he was completely conscious as he trapped him; horrified, completely reluctant, and knowing well what sort of treachery he was committing. That face was perhaps the worse thing he had ever seen in his life- even worse than the smile of the Titan that had devoured his mom. It wasn't evil, though- from the look of it, Armin had been just as scared as he. But if so then why...?

He stopped himself, sliding over to the front of his mouth, pounding on his closed teeth. "ARMIN, W-WHY... AAAGH!" He saw them open a bit, quickly trying to snap shut, only to be blocked yet again with the blonde's finger, his tongue wrapping around Eren a bit. It was then that Eren understood- he wasn't trying to eat him, he was trying to avoid letting him get chewed up! This in of itself was a relief, though it was short-lived, for soon, he closed his mouth again, shutting him in darkness again. 

Still quite in a panic, Eren felt around his surroundings, somewhat in disgust; everything felt so slick and soft- it was uncomfortable and disgusting, really, especially with how damp he was already. It was difficult to maintain balance, so he had to try making his way around slowly and carefully. Although it was hard, of course, with the massive tongue under him, shifting frequently and curling over him; tasting him, obviously. But it was clear he was in control, not swallowing, not harming him in any way. Simply waiting for his nom reflexes to go down a little bit. Even as much as he understood this, he wanted not to have to worry about anything happening. In short, he wanted out. 

"You do intend... To let me out, right?" Eren asked, at least wanting not to worry about this. Armin responded with a sort of confused grunt, then a small "mmhmm." accompanied with a little nod that didn't affect him too much. "Alright." he sighed, though scrambled to keep his grip as the tongue made him slide backwards a bit, hearing a bit of a gulp behind him. Judging by how he was swallowing however, with only a small portion of saliva sliding down his throat, these were the second set or reflexes he was trying to control, as the others were trying to chew him apart. "Just watch your reflexes until then, please." From inside, he could both hear and feel Armin grunting, and could tell that his finger was slowly becoming a bit bloody, and he could tell it could be some time before he managed to coax his killer instincts to subside.

At this point, Armin had just about given up on getting his catish behavior to stop, wondering what his options were again. He could try and spit Eren out again, but it was clear his teeth weren't about to let him get very far. There was only one thing left to do- he had to try again. Though Hanji had said something as a side note of Eren's injection that it was a certain chemical that was rather acid-resistant... Maybe he would be alright...? Though, before he could really think it over, he could feel the cat he had become starting to control his actions, making his tongue push Eren towards the front of his mouth to chew off a limb or two. That was it- he had no other options. He had to accept this then and there, stopping the shifter from getting too close, tilting his head back, and swallowed. 

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In mere seconds, Eren went from uneasy to angry to completely terrified as he completely lost his grip on Armin's tongue, slipping and sliding back towards his throat. "ARMIN STOP! GET BACK IN CONTROL! ARMIN! ARMIN?!!" he screamed, trying to claw his way back up but not being able to as he slid past his tongue and was caught in the slick, tight muscles. And though he struggled like mad, screaming insults and helpless cries, he couldn't do anything but yowl and shriek until the time he slid down through the sphincter of Armin's stomach. 

The first thing that came to his mind was to make sure that he wasn't just imagining it- after all, why on earth would Armin do this, especially to him?! Though he likely had his reasons, what they were Eren couldn't figure out. Could it really be that... The cat inside of him had gotten the best of his control, and Armin had thrown him to the wolves- or cat- as a mere tasty snack?! Impossible! He would never... 

He broke out of this attempt at reassuring himself when his hand splashed into some sort of dark liquid; It didn't take a genius to figure out, in complete dread and terror what it was; stomach acid. And very quickly, he could feel it rising around him... He really would die like this. Panic burst through and held him like a hand refusing to let go, sloshing over to briskly feel around before thrashing and shoving himself against any portion of the walls he could reach, trying to say coherent, but every word that escaped his lips blended into a loud series of screams in fury and mental agony, not sure what to think now. 

"I hope you're happy now, you god damned cat, because now you've really done it..." he said through tears, barely forming the words. Of all the fates he could think of, this was the worst; being eaten and digested by his own friend. He felt a small jolt, followed by a small "Hic!," as well as a noise that sounded like a mixture of an injured cat and loud sobbing. 

He stopped his fist mid-pounding as he realized what exactly had happened; he didn't mean to or want to do this to him. Instead, for whatever moments of his life he had left, he would listen for a second to hear him out; of course, that wouldn't stop him from trying to get out even still. 

For the first few seconds of Eren's sharp cries, they were mistaken as screams of agony by the catboy, who curled up into a ball, tears streaming down his face. By this point, he had worked himself up to an extent that he was in enough hysteria that he stated hiccuping, bouncing around the tiny shifter inside him. "Oh, Eren... I-I'm sorry! Hic!" he meowed, hugging his knees in grief. His tail was wagging a little, and he noticed this, showing the tip of it in his mouth and biting down hard until it bled a bit. This was all the fault of Hanji's wretched concoctions, and causing the death of his friend. 

"Why did you e-eat me?" Eren asked, pounding a bit lighter but still enough to get his attention and cause a bit of pain, getting sloshed about when Armin changed his position. He was feeling completely terrified, though felt a bit more relieved that Armin was conscious now. "I c-couldn't stop- hic!- it! I promise you I tried, but... It just kept getting a stronger hold of me! Hic!" So his suspicions had been confirmed- the blonde really had lost control, leaving him with nothing between he and the ferocious predator. "B-but I thought you were about to spit me out..." "... That would only have resulted in- hic!- ripping you to shreds. I've read some stuff about cats in the past, and they typically like to play with their food... Before eating it." he said, clearly disgusted and disturbed by it. "So I did the only thing I could and took a gamble... It was a crazy idea..." Hearing this, Eren remained silent, shoving himself up against the walls of his companion's belly, panicking silently at a bit of soft gurgling before managing to speak up. 

"B-but my limbs would regenerate..." "I d-don't think these damned instincts were intent on letting you go with just- hic!- a leg or two missing... Y-you're still alive?" Eren shuddered at this thought, though was startled by the last bit of it. "What?!" Armin sighed in relief, and he could feel a bit of light rubbing- likely Armin trying to calm him down. "Y-yeah, I am... Why?" The catboy seemed to calm down quite a bit afterward, wiping away his tears and remaining quiet. He hadn't noticed that with just about every breath, he was swallowing some air down, meaning that Eren would be able to breathe. 

"You should be alright, then, at least temporarily." This was more than a little unnerving to Eren- what exactly did he mean by "temporarily?" It was best to question it than leave it be, knowing the situation he was in. It gave him a horrifying thought of possibly being stuck inside his friend for a while, which simply would make him lose his mind. "What do you mean? You're not leaving me here, are you?!" he asked, starting to panic again, shuddering as he could feel the soft, slimy surface of the blonde's stomach beneath his feet. By this time, the acid was up to his chin, and he didn't want it getting any higher up- otherwise, he would surely drown! 

He could hear another surprised "Hmm?" from his devourer, quiet a few vibrations from his vocal cords echoing inside of him. "N-no, but I have just one problem with that... If I try and spit you out right now, then who's not to say this will repeat?... You could be fine for a little bit again, but when you try and find someone else, what facts are there saying it's unlikely I'll go after you again? And, then, I may not be able to get in control in time to stop it; and it's already clear I can't stop it- this monster I have become." 

Though panicked that it didn't seem like he would be coughed up any time soon,vas much as he hated to admit it, Armin had a point; either way he was in a major amount of peril, and, surprisingly, this was actually safer at the moment. With those drafted cat instincts on the prowl, who knew what could happen then? "A-Armin, face it... W-we need help. With all of this feline nonsense, you're not going to be able to get me out without it. I can't stay in here much longer... This may not last long. I could easily be digested, damn it!" he cried out, his terror apparent, pounding on the walls despite himself, which clearly made the blonde soldier a bit ill rather quickly. "Of course! That's what I was thinking, but the right person to do so..." 

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There had been a couple of physical exams and such that day, and Mikasa had just finished the last of the tests and was heading back to look for Eren, who she knew had been exempted from these drills to help Hanji with something, so the scientist's office was the first place to look for him. Heading in that direction with swift, steady steps, she made it there only to find her working away diligently on something, with the shifter no where to be seen, though, when she heard Mikasa come in, stopped and turned her head, glasses reflecting the bit of sunlight coming in. 

"Oh, you're looking for Eren, aren't you?" She stood up, abandoning her experiment temporarily, and walking over to her. "I just did some experimenting on him, and Armin voulenteered to help me with some that haven't had many tests run with, but it appeared to be along the lines of making the subject more stealthy... They're probably both quite exhausted right now, so it's probably best to approach them quietly. As for Eren's situation, he's about three inches tall right now, so you'll probably have to look down to see him. They're both in their room, if I remember correctly." Mikasa nodded, shifting slightly before heading off across the hall to get there. 

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Creaking the door open slightly, she looked inside, almost immediately pounced on by the catboy, his sky blue eyes brimming with tears, still having a bit of difficulty with the spasms in his diaphragm.  "Mikasa!" he mewed, sounding somewhat desperate. She looked down at him, feeling him tugging at her jacket, before asking "Armin, I heard you were taking care of Eren. Where is he?" Looking closer, she could see that he had claws, folded ears and a tail that was completely puffed up in panic. "And why are you part cat?" Wait. Eren was supposedly very tiny. Armin was half feline. Cats were predators of smaller things. And Eren was nowhere to be seen... And judging by the bit of blood on one of his fingers... "Armin, you didn't!..." she cried, realizing what must've happened, though skipping a step in the process. 

Letting go to grab his chest, trying to be able to breathe normally, and sending down enough air for his friend to be able to breathe, he fought back his meow-sobs as he responded. "The tests failed... Hic!... Then I was trying to keep an eye on him... After a few minutes, the damned instincts took over..." At that point he completely lost it, falling to the floor with the semi-cat sobs. For a minute or two, all he could do was gulp down air, sob, and hiccup, until getting control of himself, trying to avoid her terrified eyes, which her own tears were falling down as well. "But I didn't kill him! He's still alive! I just can't... Hic!... Can't think of a safe way to cough him up!" 

Brushing away tears, she waited for him to stand back up, before asking very quietly "He's in you stomach, then?" Gritting his teeth, he nodded a tiny bit, lowering his head in guilt. "I'm sorry, it was all I could do." he quietly murmured, though his speech was slurred with small mrrowls mixed in. "You meant to...?!" She couldn't believe what she was hearing, both shocked and furious with this statement. "Yes- I mean no! I didn't want to, but with the other option was to let him get ripped to shreds, then this was the only other option I could think of! It was a complete gamble... But it worked..." Shifting a little, tail swishing, he averted his gaze again, hoping she'd understand. "I can still feel him moving around in there... Right now, he's okay. I'd understand if you wanted to make sure, though." He added softly.

The dark haired soldier knelt down a little so she was around that level, whispering the brunette's name in a slightly desperate tone, putting an ear to her friend's stomach to see if Eren would respond. So far, she was deeply worried- all she could hear at present was a various assortment of nauseated gurgles and groans, then a bit of sloshing. Mikasa was slowly losing hope that he really was alive, until hearing the familiar voice of her brother, muffled and sounding deeply worried: "M-Mikasa?" 

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He had certainly not heard her for some time earlier- everything was greatly muffled apart from Armin's voice, which he could both hear and feel around him with every word and breath, and had at first not known who he had been talking to. However, he was mildly relieved when Armin had gotten a hold of himself- admittedly, he felt a pang of sympathy for him; after all, this hadn't been his choice, but his desperate guess of how to keep him alive, and felt horrible with it. When he could hear his sister's voice from outside, he wasn't just a little bit relieved- with her knowing this had happened, he was sure he'd get help. 

Shifting as much as Armin's gut allowed him to, he pushed himself up against the wall from where her voice was coming from, letting his own muscles relax a bit. "M-Mikasa, is that you?" He, too, pressed his ear against the catboy's stomach, listening out for her to confirm that he wasn't just turning so mad and desperate that he was hearing things. "Eren, I'm here." she responded, and by what he could hear, she, too, was relieved to be able to tell he was still alive. "Are you alright so far? You're not injured too badly, are you?" she asked, deeply concerned at this point in time. 

Hesitant to look down and see how badly he was injured, from whatever lighting he possibly could, he felt around his arms and legs, not finding too much damage, though even from the bad lighting he could tell his hand was in terrible shape. "Mostly not, apart from a few scratches and a mark on my left hand where I almost got chomped in half. There's nothing serious, at least. I'm not nearly as badly hurt as Armin, in any case." he remarked, thinking back to the scratches the catboy had given himself in the amount of time he had been chased down, the boy attacking himself for putting him in danger. Why had it needed to come to that? 

Outside again, Mikasa was prying open then blonde's mouth, trying to make him spit the brunette out, though only causing him to gag a tiny bit, biting down on her finger, wincing. Eren's squirming was already sickening enough, and his instincts were starting to take over again... 

A second or two later, Armin could see his paw like hand reaching out, and a second later, she jerked away, fresh blood starting to drip from five new, thin marks on the opposite side of her face from the scar she had gotten during the mission to seal Trost District. Glancing back over, she saw that his ears were reared back, tail puffed up, claws out, eyes dilated and narrowed, emitting a soft hissing sound with every bit of his fur bristling. He was quite literally the spitting image of an unamused cat. 

That couldn't mean anything good; though unable to see what was going on at all, Eren could conclude that Armin had lost control and lashed out... Again. This was insane... all he had wanted that day was to have a friend to guard him while he was this small... It could've been fun, or relaxing, but no; instead, he had to be stuck in this mess, with a berserk feline corrupting the soldier, stuck inside his stomach... He rammed his elbow repeatedly into the walls, trying to make him snap out of it, getting very annoyed with the cat. 

He was completely jostled around, falling pretty deeply into the flesh of Armin's stomach, hearing and feeling a large amount of pained grunting, understanding with dread what was going on. Yet again, he was scratching himself for hurting one of his friends. "Armin, please stop... Mikasa, make him stop that..." he moaned. "It's not your fault- that blasted injection is making you act like this. What we really need is to get Hanji involved with this, and hopefully we can figure something out from there." 

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Gulping down the fresh air thankfully, collapsing on the table in Hanji's desk, Eren lay exhausted after his encounter with the inside of his feline friend, deeply grateful to finally be out. Armin gave a disappointed meow in response, immediately making him tense up, only to see that Mikasa was holding him with her   arms wrapped around his shoulders, partially in the air- basically, he wasn't going anywhere, and was more relieved still when Hanji came over and injected the antidote into the blonde's right arm, watching the effects of the original test evaporate, starting with the ears and tail... Blinking, his eyes returned to normal,   hesitating before scrambling to wipe off the brunette. 

"It looks like you're going to be small for a little longer... Eren, I'm so sorry... I really didn't mean to..." Eren put up a hand, cutting him off again before he could get any further. "You didn't mean to, I understand. But god damn- was hurting yourself so much nessicary?!" He had noticed that either of his hands were slashed, as well as the entire left side of his face, his forearms... He had done a pretty through job scratching the hell out of himself. "I don't want you to do that again- it hurts me to see you bashing yourself for something that wasn't even your fault. Understood?" He nodded, though clearly reluctantly: he truly felt this encounter was his fault, though realized he might've gone a bit far with it. "But Armin, all this has gotten me thinking about something...."

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Feline Lycanthropy](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16570055) by [RedlaSunShowers029](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedlaSunShowers029/pseuds/RedlaSunShowers029)




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